Quick, name the people who would drop everything to do whatever they could to help you if you needed them. That's a short list. Now name the people who love you unconditionally and always will. That's an even shorter list. Moms rule. Here's my mom during the Elyse Keaton years.
I play ball with Alek and tonight I saw him for the first time since last season. I was first to arrive at the diamond and he was second, and he quickly asked me if I had a daughter who sang k-os' "Sunday Morning". He went on to tell me
I played tee ball as a kid, primarily at Rennie Park by Swansea. We started with tee ball and graduated to softball. I always assumed tee ball was the first step in baseball evolution, but it turns out there's a precursor. James is playing blastball this summer. If you don't
This is Michelle's latest masterpiece. I'm incredibly biased and incredibly impressed. It's the best thing I've seen since this.
Kids say the darndest things. I love conversing with my kids because they're so brutally honest and unintentionally funny it's always entertaining. Periodically I'm going to share conversations I have with them. James is five and Michelle is two, and here's a discussion we had recently. James: My allegiance is
There are some good songs with "James" in the title, and there are some good songs with "Michelle" in the title. What are my ten favourite songs with either "James" or "Michelle" in the title? Sweet Baby James - James TaylorMy Michelle - Guns N' RosesJimmy James - Beastie BoysMichelle
This Saturday morning full of sunshine and warmth was spent renting a truck at Uhaul and moving my brother's family. You see, there's a familial code when it comes to moving, and you don't go against the code. If a family member is moving, you offer your services, even on
Michelle likes me to read her the same Bear in the Big Blue House book every night before she goes to sleep. It's a book about going sleep and I've added an interactive element to the story. I ask her a question after reading each page. Did you have a
I've known my younger brother Steve for all of his life, but until very recently, I didn't know his name. I'm not alone, our own mother didn't know his name either. In fact, Steve didn't know his own name. It turns out Steve's middle name is not what we thought
I've probably walked, driven or biked past the Old Mill a thousand times in my life, but I've never been inside until today. This Easter Sunday, we went for brunch at the Old Mill. James and Michelle were fed for free and the Easter Bunny himself (or is it a
As recently as January I was writing about the unseasonable heat we were experiencing in Toronto. Later that month, winter did indeed arrive and February was bitterly cold. There were some chilly days earlier this month as well, but now we're enjoying our annual thaw. It's so therapeutic. The snow
I met my brothers and mom for lunch. It rarely happens, but it happened today. As usual, the conversations were all over the place. Here's a taste. Another World - A defunct soap opera that was once my mom's favourite. We discussed the characters, where they've been seen since, how
James is on March Break, so like any kid on March Break, he's been waking up a little later and going to bed a little later. Last night he went to bed at 9pm, but at 9:45 I could hear he was still awake. His little footsteps were accompanied
When James was two, he was a daddy's boy. I'd be lying if I didn't admit I enjoyed being the preferred parent. James loved his mommy but he wanted daddy to read his bedtime story and if given the choice he'd choose to tag along with whatever daddy was up
My wife still owns one of those old style film cameras. You remember those 33mm things that you had to stick a roll of film in. You actually had to complete the roll before you could develop the pictures and if you took a bad pic you couldn't delete it.
I called five of the big six winners last night at the 79th Academy Awards, only blowing the best supporting actor category. I picked 14 right in total, but I lost to Vanessa who got 15. Martin Scorsese should have won for Goodfellas, but better late than never. Of course,
I openly debated whether to host an Oscar pool as I have the past few years and in the end I realized I just don't have the time to manage a free contest that would surely attract hundreds of participants. Instead, I went old school and held a pool with
James lost his first tooth today. It's been pretty loose for a few weeks now and today it finally fell out. I can't believe how small this thing is. It's been a while since I saw a baby tooth outside of a mouth. I just hope the Tooth Fairy is
Next week is Valentine's Day. I'll be the first to admit I suck at these things. The whole "holiday" seems so contrived, I'd rather ignore it in protest. That, however, wouldn't go over well with Taryn. In 1996, I actually paid to profess my love in the Toronto Star. That
When James was two, he'd do his business in the potty and skedaddle. When Michelle uses the potty, she removes the container, disposes of the waste in the toilet, rinses it out and gently puts it back for next time. That, in a nutshell, is the difference between toddler boys
I mentioned Michelle loves to sing. One of her favourite songs to sing is k-os' "Sunday Morning". She just loves that song. This morning, which just happened to be a Sunday morning, she was singing this song while she coloured. I thought it was pretty damn cute and took a
Now that Sweet Baby James is five, I've been thinking a lot about that wonderful day five years ago. Here are four photos from five years ago today.
James, my first born son and apple of my eye, is five years old today. I remember that January day in 2002 when Taryn called me from the hospital. She told me to get my butt down there because after days and days of false alarms and anticipation, they were
Michelle has amazing recall when it comes to music. She'll hear a song once in the car and then start singing it days later. I can usually name the tune in three notes because her rendition is spot on. The other day I caught her singing "In View by the
I married Taryn eleven years ago today. Last year, on the day we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary, I shared the exciting details of that cold January day in 1996. I don't have many pictures from that day, but I have a couple. Here they are. Taryn, I love you
